The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the economic, financial and debt vulnerabilities of low-income and middle-income developing countries (LICs and MICs), leaving their economies ravaged and floundering, and potentially undoing progress made toward sustainable development and the achievement of Agenda 2030. In response to the onset of the pandemic, the UN launched several development account projects including Response and Recovery: Mobilising financial resources for development in the time of Covid-19 co-ordinated by UNCTAD and in partnership with regional commissions, ECA, ECLAC and ESCAP. The project aims to enable member countries to diagnose their fragilities in the global and regional context and identify and design appropriate policy responses leading toward recovery and return to the development path.
The virtual seminar aims to enhance understanding of aspects of external financial liquidity and sustainability by showcasing two developments of the COVID-19 project:
- The UNCTAD-Boston University-Freie Universität Global Financial Safety Net Tracker, which tracks liquidity provision for all UN member states from different sources – including the IMF, Regional Financial Arrangements and bilateral central bank swaps.
- The Sustainable Development Finance Assessment (SDFA) – a framework which examines the capacity of developing countries to achieve the most significant SDGs in a way that is compatible with external financial and public debt sustainability.
The programme of the meeting is attached. Participants are encouraged to register through the following link: Meeting Registration - Zoom
Any questions may be addressed to Penelope Hawkins at [email protected] or to [email protected]